Dot Hack G U Release
by Ronnin-themanwithnoprinciples
Summary: When Haseo gets a strange flash mail telling him to come to Hulle Granz Cathedral, he did not expect to find... A secret basement, many certain statues, and a warp point that lands him in a special location. What awaits him and this Steam Gunner, Renatus?
1. Renew

**(Author's Note: My first FanFiction of 2012. Hope you all enjoy!)**

**(Also, I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE .HACK FRANCHISE OR CHARACTERS OTHER THAN MY OC)  
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**[Dot]**Hack/G.U. Vol. 4/Release

_Chapter 1: Renew_

At a certain time, Haseo logged on to 'The World' and entered Mac Anu. Looking around, he thought about what he should do today. "Hm, it looks like Atoli's online; maybe I'll invite her and go on a quest." Haseo said to himself, but before he had a chance to send the invite, a message appeared on his screen.

The message simply read- **Come to****** Δ** Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground ****Right Away. **– And that was all.

"Huh, a flash mail, I wonder who sent it?" Haseo wondered. The message asked him to come to Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, a place Haseo was no stranger to. Over the course of the last several months, Haseo had many encounters, battles, and experiences in that Lost Ground.

It may have been that fact that encouraged him to go, even though he was unsure why it had even been sent, let alone by whom? Nevertheless Haseo put off inviting Atoli and turned to the Chaos Gate behind him. Haseo entered the Area Words and teleported to the Lost Ground.

Once at the Lost Ground, Haseo hurried up to the door of the great cathedral and opened them to go inside. Once inside the cathedral, Haseo looked around, trying to find whoever had sent the message. "So, are you the one who got my flash mail?" A voice spoke up and Haseo looked over to its source.

The character Haseo saw was a human-type character. He had short white hair and black eyes. His military-like white shirt was set in contrast with the large black ribbons rapped in an X over his chest and laced to the back, and his sleeves were cut in two pieces that were clipped together by small rings only on the top side of his arms and he had brown open finger gloves. A transparent, light-blue cape was stuck to his left shoulder using a small gold pin. He had blue pants with more black ribbons laced on them and were tied short halfway past his knees where his brown boots began.

"You sent me that message, who are you?" Haseo asked.

"My name is Renatus." The player replied.

"Why did you send me the flash mail?"

"Well, actually I just sent it to Mac Anu, you just happened to be the one who received it." Renatus answered.

"So you weren't calling anyone specifically, you just needed someone to come over; why?"

Renatus's next statement made it sound like he was ignoring Haseo's question. "Do you know about the story saying there used to be a statue of a girl here?"

"Huh," Haseo muttered, wondering what brought this on.

"Her name was Aura, and she was supposedly the/"

"I know the story; I just don't see what this has to do with anything." Haseo interrupted.

"It's actually pretty important to what I'm going to show you." Renatus said. "Come up here." Renatus took Haseo and led him to the front of the cathedral. "Skeith, Innis, Magus; those are the only three names readable on this pedestal." He said, motioning his hand to the pedestal the girl's statue used to be, and where the Tri-Edge insignia now was.

"What about 'em?" Haseo questioned, obviously not able to tell Renatus about the true meaning of those names.

"It seems there's a lot more to those names than most players believe, since this is the only place you ever see the names."

"Why's that?" Haseo asked, still not understanding where this conversation was heading.

"Well I'm really the kind of person who over-analyses things. So I started wondering what exactly the true purpose of these names was, thinking there's no way the game designers would stick them here for no reason."

"So…" Haseo pushed Renatus to get to the point.

"So I started taking a thorough look around the Cathedral, and you won't believe what I found." Renatus said, and then jumped over the railing separating part of the cathedral. "I guess no one really thought to look over here because they never saw any reason to go past the railing, but come look what I found."

Haseo had half a mind to leave but considering this guy was looking into details involving the Avatars, he decided it would be a good idea to find out just how much he knew. Haseo jumped over the railing and walked up behind the pedestal where Renatus was. "So what is it?" He asked, seeing nothing unusual.

"I found a secret path." Renatus told Haseo, and then reached his hand down to the pedestal, and his hand fazed through it, surprising Haseo. "Come on, fallow me." Renatus told Haseo and walked into the hidden path, which must have been a stairwell because Renatus dropped down more with each step.

Haseo entered the secret path and found it was indeed a stairwell going down in a small dark corridor. "So where does this lead?" Haseo asked, actually becoming curious himself now.

"You'll see. But first let's get back to the statue's myth." Renatus said as they continued walking down the stairs. "As you know, the statue was of Aura, the acclaimed goddess of The World, but at some point in the history of The World, she disappeared."

"Yeah, I have a friend who thinks she might have left because she lost hope and gave up on The World."

"That's not a bad guess," Renatus replied. "In accordance with The World myths, a lot of people might think that."

"But you don't think so do you? You think there's a bigger story behind the disappearance of Aura don't you?" Haseo asked, thinking to how Renatus said he over-analyzed thing.

At this point Renatus stopped walking, and when Haseo looked forward he saw they had come to a door. "That's right, and what's beyond this door is what convinced me of that. Perhaps it wasn't that she had lost hope for this world…" Renatus said and opened up the door to the next room, and Haseo followed. "Maybe she left in order to give this world_ more _hope." Renatus finished on the other side of the door, and what Haseo saw in this hidden room astounded him.

In this underground basement hidden in Hulle Granz Cathedral, the statue everyone believed to have been completely removed was now in front of Haseo and Renatus. The statue of Aura, who was assumed to have vanished from The World long ago, was right in front of them suspended in the air by chains. But that wasn't all; behind the statue of Aura were eight smaller statues on individual pedestals. "Hey, what are those?" Haseo asked.

Renatus looked over at the statues in question, and then replied without looking back to Haseo. "From what I understand, they're called 'the eight phases of Morgana'." He said, and Haseo almost jumped at hearing a regular player use the term.

Yata had told Haseo that the Avatars were supposed to be the 'children of Morgana' and that they were marked with 'phases' numbered 1-8. Haseo's Avatar, Skeith, was the first phase: The Terror of Death. And Ovan's Corbenik had been the eighth phase: The Rebirth. Haseo though was wondering how these statues were related to them, when he saw them they reminded him nothing of the Avatars; but taking a closer look now, he saw a resemblance in some of them.

Haseo remembered he was feigning ignorance and spoke to Renatus. "Eight phases of Morgana?"

"Skeith, Innis, Magus, Fidchell, Gorre, Macha, Tarvos, Corbenik." Renatus replied, shaking Haseo as he revealed he even knew the other five names. "One of these names is inscribed on each of the pedestals. They are the phases, apparently." Renatus said, and then began to walk over to the statues, which were lined in two rows of four. Haseo fallowed and took a closer look at the statues.

The one marked Innis, Fidchell, and Corbenik reminded Haseo nothing of the actual Avatars. Innis's statue looked like it could be a geometric plate or puzzle piece, Fidchell's looked like some strange water pump, and Corbenik's seemed to have the shape of a bean or maybe it was supposed to be a kidney.

However the Magus's statue reminded Haseo of its tail, Tarvos's reminded him vaguely of her wing, and Gorre's had two faces, which made him think about the Avatar's twin aspect. Then there was Macha and Skeith, which had the greatest resemblance to the Avatars. Macha's looked like a cat in a dress, which was almost exactly what the Avatar looked like. And Skeith's statue had a form very near what the Avatar's was, and it held a weapon, although it was not the scythe Haseo used.

"I still don't get it, why did you send the flash mail at all?" Haseo asked Renatus.

"I'm just about to get to that." Renatus said and walked past the statues so he was in front of Corbenik. "I sent the flash mail because I came across this." Then Renatus pulled out his weapon, a Steam Gun, and struck Corbenik's statue, after which a blue orb appeared in front of the statue.

Haseo realized what it was immediately. "Uh, a warp point!" He said.

"That's right; Corbenik's statue is the only one that operates like this however. None of the other statues could be used as a warp point."

"That still doesn't explain why you sent the mail." Haseo noted.

"The reason was that I can't use this warp point by myself. Apparently there needs to be two people to be used. No more, no less." Renatus explained. "It's possible I may have found an extremely secret quest, so I wanted to give this warp point a try and see where it leads. So what do you say, will you come with me?"

Haseo was very reluctant. All of this had to do with the Avatars, meaning what lied beyond that warp point could be far beyond any normal players' capability. If he really wanted to find out for himself, he could always turn Renatus down and come back later with someone from G.U.; but Haseo was afraid if he did turn Renatus down, he would just send his flash mail to some other random player, which would be twice as bad.

So long as Haseo was careful and made sure Renatus was safe, it should be alright. And since it would be more dangerous for Renatus without him, he decided to go. "Alright then, let's see just where this warp point takes us."

"Good, put your hand on the warp point." Renatus told Haseo and did so himself. Once Haseo added his hand, the warp point activated and the two of them were teleported out of Hulle Granz Cathedral.

The area the two of them found themselves in next stunned them both. It stunned Renatus because he had never seen anything like it; but it stunned Haseo because he _had_. "What is this place?" Renatus asked, more curious than frightened as one might have expected.

(Is this, an Avatar Space?) Haseo thought to himself. The space only Epitaph Users could see that the Avatars fought in that was outside the normal parameters of the game; that was were the warp point had taken them.

However, that knowledge brought up a question, since only Epitaph users could see the space, what exactly was Renatus's question referring to. "Well this is quite an unusual and barren area." Renatus said casually and walked forward. "What do you make of it?"

"Well, it is pretty strange. Do you think it's another kind of Lost Ground?" Haseo asked, trying to be as vague as possible since he could not see what Renatus was seeing due to the Avatar Space.

"I'm not sure, the Lost Grounds have always been unique, but have you ever seen one that had nothing in it?" Renatus said, and because the description matched to the Avatar Space, Haseo got a bad feeling. "I mean look around, there's literally nothing for as far as the eye can see; we don't even have a visible floor to stand on, like we could fall down at any moment."

Now Haseo was really worried, from what Renatus was describing, he was able to see the Avatar Space. But that just couldn't be possible unless he were an Epitaph User, which was impossible since he knew all eight of them.

"I don't even see a warp point for us to go back through, there's literally nothing here!" Renatus shouted, but for some reason sounded almost joyful.

"Not nothing boy," A voice suddenly sounded out, which made Renatus and Haseo jump with surprise, looking around for the source of them voice.

Then something began to materialize in front of them, and it was huge. Haseo and Renatus watched carefully as the thing revealed itself, but when it did, Haseo became utterly speechless. The being in front of them was none other than the Avatar Corbenik, but of course his left arm was no longer infected with Aida.

In contrast to Haseo's completely petrified reaction, Renatus spoke calmly. "Wow, what do we have here?"

Corbenik turned to Renatus. "What do you think I am? I am the eighth Phase; Corbenik: The Rebirth." Corbenik informed Renatus. "To think the first one to find their way here would be a regular player. It's almost laughable." Corbenik said, and then turned to Haseo. "But at least this boy has brought with him The Terror of Death."

Haseo took a step back at being addressed. "You… know who I am?" Haseo asked.

"Of course I do, I was there all the while watching as Ovan nurtured you to destroy him." Corbenik told Haseo, which made it obvious.

"Hey now, hold the phone, are you saying you know this huge monster?" Renatus asked Haseo.

Corbenik sighed and looked back to Renatus. "Already I've grown tired of you. A regular player such as you has no business being here." Corbenik said and lifted his hand, appearing that he was planning to destroy Renatus's character.

Seeing that scene, Haseo was taken back and remembered how an attack from an Avatar could put a player into a coma. To stop that possibility from happening, Haseo yelled at the top of his lungs. "HEY!"

Corbenik stopped with his hand held high and looked at Haseo. "Hold it right there! I don't know why he can see you, but I'm not about to let you make him a Lost One!" Haseo yelled, and then yellow light tattoos shined all over his body. "Come on, come on, I'm right here… Skeith!" Haseo screamed, and he became his Avatar, Skeith.

Without even wasting a second, Haseo plowed into Corbenik to get him away from Renatus, and Corbenik struggled for a while to get him off, and by that time they were far from Renatus. "So you are able to harness Skeith's power even here?" Corbenik said, confusing Haseo.

"What does that mean?" Haseo asked.

"You really don't know anything, do you? Well, I suppose it would take someone like Ovan to be able to grasp the situation easily." Corbenik explained. "Let me spell it out for you, this is the place where the Avatar's reside. It is our 'home' in terms that make more sense to you. Here we reside physically, and we can only leave this place when an Epitaph User calls on us to use our powers. But even then we are forced to be merely puppets, our consciousness is suppressed and our bodies are still bound to the space."

"This is where you come from? You're saying the Epitaph Users draw the Avatar's power from here?" Haseo confirmed.

"That is correct." Corbenik replied.

"That still doesn't explain it, why wouldn't I be able to use Skeith?"

"You're dumber than you look boy." Corbenik criticized. "You should not be able to use Skeith's power here because here we are stronger and more resistant to the Epitaph User's calls. While you are here, there is a choice of us lending you our power; where as outside when you call us we cannot deny your call." Corbenik explained. "Simply speaking, you are only able to use Skeith here because it is the furthest space from his own and he simply has not gathered enough strength to resist you at this length just yet."

"Alright I get it; you're saying the real Skeith is somewhere nearby and if he had any more power he'd leave me to be a sitting duck instead of letting me fight you. But that still doesn't explain why Renatus could see you."

Corbenik sighed, like it was a chore to explain all this to him. "Because when you use our power within the normal parameters of The World, our space is place parallel to them, allowing for only Epitaph User to see them. But here you are outside the normal parameters, coming here physically means forfeiting that invisibility and any player will be able to see this space and us." Corbenik explained.

"So how do we get out of here?" Haseo asked.

"As an Epitaph User you are able to leave at any time you wish. But any regular player that enters here can only leave by my consent. Which I could have done before you attacked me." Corbenik said suddenly, surprising Haseo.

"Wait you mean, you don't intend to fight?" Haseo asked, seeming surprised at this.

"You really are dumb. Ovan was my Epitaph User, that means he and I are alike. Do you really think Ovan would have done that boy in with such a simple reason?"

Haseo actually had to think about this. No matter how close he and Ovan were, he had always been a mystery. Haseo wasn't completely sure what Ovan would have done in Corbenik's place, but he guessed it was safe to assume Corbenik was telling the truth.

At that point, Renatus got close enough for his voice to reach Haseo and Corbenik. "Hey, what are you doing!" He asked. "I was looking forward to fighting this special boss! And what exactly is that form you took?" Renatus said, aiming his statements and questions at Haseo.

Because Haseo believed Corbenik was safe, he took his attention off of him and looked toward Renatus. However, to his surprise, Corbenik suddenly flew strait past him and at Renatus. "Since you don't know I'll tell you, that is exactly what Ovan would have done." Corbenik told Haseo.

Haseo was shocked; Corbenik lied to get Haseo to let his guard down. No, actually Corbenik hadn't technically lied, he just didn't answer Haseo's question directly; and that really did sound like something Ovan would do.

Renatus stopped himself when he saw Corbenik charge for him, and immediately brought out his Steam Gun, but Haseo knew it would do little good against an Avatar. "You idiot, run away!" Haseo screamed at Renatus and charged to try and intercept Corbenik.

However, Haseo suddenly reverted back to his character form, losing Skeith's power, and would no longer be able to reach Renatus in time. Corbenik had said if Skeith had any more strength he wouldn't be able to use the power, and apparently he had gotten what he needed. Haseo went wide eye as he could now do nothing but watch a Player become a Lost One.

Renatus however did not back down. And when Corbenik neared him, he prepared his gun to shoot. "I understand you're not something regular players can defeat from what I overheard." Renatus said to Corbenik. "But that doesn't matter to me; I've got to at least try." He said and pulled the trigger, but the bullet that came out didn't make the giant known as Corbenik flinch.

Instead, Corbenik came to a complete halt in front of Renatus. It had not been due to his attack, or anything wrong with Corbenik, it had merely been that he decided to stop after hearing Renatus's words. "You do not even flinch, no matter who or what you're fighting. Now who does that remind me of?" Corbenik muttered to himself, and it almost sounded like he chuckled.

"What's the matter, loss your nerve?" Renatus asked.

"Very well then!" Corbenik suddenly shouted and thrust his palm at Renatus that was bigger than him on its own.

Still, Renatus showed no fear and swung the blade of his Steam Gun so that it would clash with Corbenik's palm. And when it did there was a moment of stalemate, and then Corbenik vanished from sight.

Seeing this, Haseo didn't know what to think. There was absolutely no way Renatus actually beat Corbenik, but there was also little chance Corbenik had decided to flee. And despite how awestruck he was, Renatus still maintained his calm composure and walked over to Haseo. "Hey, are you alright?" He asked.

It took Haseo a moment to reply because of his shock, but when he did he was screaming. "No I'm not alright! What the hell did you just do, there's no way you could have beaten an Avatar!"

"So you do know about all this; I thought as much." Renatus said, still not even fazed by all that had happened. "Anyways I'm not sure what happened, Corbenik just vanished. I didn't beat him though, that's for sure. But while he's gone we should look for a way out right?" Renatus said.

Haseo looked at Renatus and wasn't sure what confused him more, Corbenik's actions or Renatus's reactions to them. However he didn't even have time to think about what to do next, because next thing he knew he was being warped out of the Avatar Space and appeared in front of Mac Anu's Chaos Gate.


	2. Review

**Author's Note: I apologize for the long wait for a chapter update, but I realized I had a terrible need to refresh my information on .Hack, so I ended up having to replay the first four games. But without further ado, the second chapter.**

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><p><em><span>Chapter 2: Review<span>_

After reappearing in Mac Anu, Haseo was left speechless. Corbenik had said Haseo could leave anytime because he was an Epitaph User, and that Renatus would have to be given his consent in order to leave. So why was it that they both were teleported out when Haseo did not try to leave nor was Corbenik even around to give Renatus consent.

As each time before, Renatus's calm was not broken. "Well at least we're out, right?" He said.

"How can you be so calm?" Haseo had to restrain himself from yelling as not to attract the attention of other players. "You don't even know what any of that was, I've had to live through this for months and I still have no idea what just happened!"

"That's just the kind of guy I am." Renatus replied. "But you just said you've lived through this kind of stuff for months; meaning you knew more than you were letting on at the Lost Ground."

Haseo clicked his tongue. He didn't have any reason to hide anything anymore after everything Renatus just saw, and in fact it was probably better to let him know at this point; but Renatus was saying that like he was accusing Haseo of a crime. "Yeah, I know all about it; or at least I thought I knew everything." Haseo said.

"So are you going to explain it to me, or do you still plan to leave in the dark?" Renatus asked.

"It would be a pain to try and explain everything to you here and now, especially when I still don't have the details on what just happened. And I'm no good at explaining things anyways." Haseo told Renatus. "Here, for now take this." He said and gave an item to Renatus.

"Huh, what's this?" Renatus asked.

"It's the key that will let you into Raven's Home." Haseo explained. "The other people in that guild are others who are involved in this, and will be able to explain the situation better than I ever could. I'm going to try and sort things out with them first and see if any of them know what's going on. And you better give me your Member Address, so I can call you in once we figure things out." He told Renatus.

"Sounds like a plan, alright then, here you go." Renatus said and gave his Member Address to Haseo. "I've got to log off for now, send me a mail whenever you're ready." He said and logged off.

Haseo stood there for a moment, still trying to process everything that happened and make at least _some_ sense of it all; but when he couldn't think of anything else he opened up his friends list to see who was online.

"Looks like Pi and Yata are offline right now… just great; they're the ones who really understand this stuff!" Haseo said, but complaining wouldn't help, so he sent the others a flash mail to meet up at Raven's Home, and then headed over there himself.

When he got there Sakubo and Endrance had already arrived, and the two of them turned to look at him. "Alright Haseo what's the big idea!" It looked like it was Saku playing right now. "Calling us all up here out of the blue,"

"I'm sure Haseo has a good reason, if he called all the members of Raven it must be important; right, Haseo?" Endrance said.

"Yeah, it would be difficult for me to explain it all before Yata or Pi got online, but I'll try to give you the run down once Atoli and Kuhn get here." Haseo answered.

Just then the doors to the guild opened up and Atoli and Kuhn walked in. "Haseo, what is it? Are you alright?" Atoli asked hurriedly, worried Haseo might have gotten into some kind of trouble.

"I'm fine Atoli, but I really need to tell you all something." Haseo responded, trying to calm Atoli down before continuing.

"I'm not going to go into the details before Yata and Pi come online, but the big thing is… I met Corbenik." Haseo told the others, who were taken by surprise.

"But how can that be? Ovan disappeared right?" Atoli questioned.

"Well that's actually the thing; I found a secret path within the Hulle Granz Cathedral that lead to a place I could reach the place the Avatar's come from."

"There's a hidden path within one of the Lost Grounds?" Kuhn asked. "How'd you find it?"

"That's the difficult part, and I'd rather wait for Pi and Yata to come online before I get to that."

They ended up having to wait almost 20 minutes before Yata finally came online, and Haseo immediately sent him a flash mail.

"What's the matter Haseo? Your mail seemed rather urgent." Yata asked when he arrived.

"We need to get Pi here too before I go into the details." Haseo told Yata.

"You know Pi in real life right Yata? Could you get her online?" Kuhn asked.

"Certainly," Yata replied.

Yata had to step away from his computer, so his character was just left standing there while he contacted Pi in the real world. And once Yata got back to his computer, it was only a matter of minutes before Pi found her way to the Home.

"What's this all about Haseo? Master Yata said you had something urgent to tell us?" Pi asked when she arrived.

"I already gave the others the run down, so I'll try to give a better explanation now." Haseo said. "When I entered the game today someone sent me a flash mail telling me to come to Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground. The guy who sent it was named Renatus, this guy showed me a secret path hidden within the Lost Ground that led to a basement filled with statues."

"Statues of what," Kuhn asked.

"One of the statues was of Aura."

Pi gasped. "You mean the goddess of The World?"

"Exactly, the other statues were all pretty strange, but they were inscribed with the names of the Avatars." Haseo said. Yata looked up intrigued by this, but kept his thoughts to himself for the moment.

"The one with Corbenik's name functioned as a warp point made only to be accessible with two people, which is why Renatus had bothered calling someone in the first place. That's where I met Corbenik." Haseo told them.

"Met Corbenik?" Pi questioned.

"Apparently that statue had been a warp point to the place the Avatars resided, outside the normal parameters of the game; also, because we had gone to the place the Avatar's physically reside, even Renatus, a normal player, was able to see him. I tried to fight Corbenik off when he was going to attack Renatus, but Corbenik said something about how the Avatars' will is stronger there, and Skeith took back the power he was lending me, so I couldn't use him to stop Corbenik from doing what he wanted."

"Wait, then what happened to the player, Renatus?" Kuhn inquired fearing what might have happened.

"He's fine, but that's only because when Corbenik did attack, he vanished instead of harming Renatus. And after that even though he said Renatus would need his permission to leave since he was a regular player, we both ended up back in Mac Anu."

"What did you tell Renatus after that?" Yata asked.

"I was afraid that if I tried hiding the truth anymore Renatus would start spreading the word about the special area he uncovered; so I gave him the guild key here and told him we would explain the situation to him later, once I had this all figured out." Haseo answered.

"That was probably wise, if this Renatus had said anything about the area, too many swarms of regular players would attempt it, and as Corbenik had attempted to do to Renatus- eliminate them." Yata said. "When did you tell Renatus to come?"

"I told him I would mail him, and for now he's logged out." Haseo replied.

"I see," Yata said simply. "Haseo, there is something I wish to check. Could you take me to the secret area within the Lost Ground?"

Pi cut in. "Master Yata, are you sure? If what Haseo says is true then you may be unable to use your Avatar."

"It is alright Pi; I do not intend to enter Corbenik's area." Yata corrected Pi.

"Alright then, let's go." Haseo agreed and invited Yata to his party.

After that Haseo took Yata to Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground and showed him the way into the secret area behind the statue pedestal. "There they are, in the back there." Haseo said and pointed to the statues that held the Avatar's names.

After a second to look at them all, Yata confirmed his suspicions. "Hm, it's as I thought."

"What is it?" Haseo asked.

"The reason these statues do not look like our Avatars is because these statues were made to represent what the eight phases of Morgana looked like in the original version of The World."

"Really?" Haseo asked. He remembered Yata had said he had been there in the original version of The World when Cubia had first attacked and caused the Second Network Crisis.

"Haseo, are you familiar with 'The Epitaph of Twilight'?"

"The Epitaph of Twilight; that's what the original version of 'The World' was based on right?" Haseo confirmed. "I've heard about it from the forums, but I don't really know anything about it."

"The Epitaph of Twilight is an epic poem that became the basic background story of 'The World'. As for the contents, it speaks of a cursed wave that will destroy the world, and the eight beings that cause this wave are none other than the eight phases." Yata told Haseo, and he gasped in response.

"So the Avatar's are actually the enemy?"

"Yes, In R:1, all eight phases had to be fought and defeated in order to bring back the Lost Ones. And now that we know these areas that can reach the Avatar's domain exist, I fear the Cursed Wave may be upon us yet again." Yata told Haseo and the two of them looked back up at Corbenik's statue with a mixture of fear and awe.

With what Yata had wanted to check and say done with, the two of them went back to Mac Anu, and Haseo disbanded their party. "Haseo, tell Renatus to come to the Home tomorrow at noon. I will explain everything to him then."

"Got it," Haseo said unenthusiastically. He was awfully tired after everything that had happened, and would call it a day after mailing Renatus.

Ryou Misaki logged off and came up to the main page for 'The World' and saw that the sign: _New _next to the Forums. Not interested enough to take the extra time to check it right now, he left it alone and clicked the _Quit_ command.

Once his desktop came up, Ryou scrolled to the mail station and opened it. He began to type in his message to Renatus with the subject: Meeting.

Hey, Renatus, I talked with my guild and you can come by tomorrow at noon. Our Guild Master, Yata will explain everything to you.

Ryou click _send_. It was short, but to the point and he wasn't in the mood to attempt a long message anyways. Done with what he needed, Ryou shut down the computer and went to bed.

When Ryou woke up, the first thing he did was go back to his computer and turn it on. The ALTIMIT desktop popped up and the _New _icon flashed on his mail station. He opened the station up and found 2 pieces of new mail, one was from Renatus as a reply to his message and the other was from CC Crop.

Sender; Renatus

Subject: Re: Meeting

_Hey, Renatus, I talked with my guild and you can come by tomorrow at noon. Our Guild Master, Yata will explain everything to you._

Thanks, but before that I have something I want to tell you. Can you meet me in private?

If you get time before noon, come to the new server and meet me in the Beast Temple at **Λ Courageous Mounted Ceremony**.

"Something he wants to tell me?" Ryou asked himself as he closed Renatus's mail. "What could _he_ have to tell _me_?"

Renatus had said to meet at an area in a new Server, which probably meant the mail from CC Corp was sent to inform him about it. Sure enough, the message read:

Sender: CC Crop

Subject: Notice: New Town Access Granted

Dear Haseo,

Thank you for your regular patronage of The World.

As part of the new version update for The World a new Root Town Server has been added to the game. Your character fulfilled the necessary conditions and has been granted access to "**Imus Regnum**".

From now on, you will be able to transport to Imus Regnum from the Chaos Gate's **Town Warp** Menu.

We hope you will enjoy this new world of adventure.

If you are not sure why you received this email, please contact our customer center. We apologize for the inconvenience.

After reading the mail from CC Corp. Ryou went out of the mail station and clicked on The World icon next to it, opening up the homepage. Coming in, he was reminded by the _New _icon that there was something he hadn't read on the Forum, and decided to have a look at what it was.

Ryou opened The World official forum and looked at the newest thread. The thread was titled: Epitaph of Twilight? And since Haseo was just told about the Epitaph by Yata the previous day, it peaked his interest. But he also clicked on it because of who the author was; Renatus.

Opening the thread, he saw that other than Renatus's original post, three replies had already been posted. Opening the first post, Haseo read:

So I heard that The World was originally based on some old epic poem call The Epitaph of Twilight; but can't seem to find anything on it anywhere. Any and all information about it is welcome, and a big thank you to anyone who replies.

Haseo realized Renatus was probably trying to sort out as much of what happened yesterday on his own, and he certainly had a right to know at this point; but the problem was simply that he was going to get questions on why he was looking for the information, especially considering how many posts in the past has brought it up. Unless Renatus already has a good story made up, he wouldn't be able to just dodge the questions forever, and that would be bad for everyone.

Curious to know what others have said to this post, Haseo began reading down the thread. The first reply was from Nuada, who frequently replied to posts, reading:

Another fan curious about the history I see. I'd love to help you out, Renatus, but anything anyone knows about The Epitaph of Twilight has probably already been said on other threads. If you can't find what you're looking for in one of them, I'm afraid you're out of luck.

Next was a reply from Oshino 8 Seas, reading:

I've been wondering about that Epitaph thing for a while now. If it was the base for the original version of The World, shouldn't CC Corp have a record of it somewhere? If they do, they should really release it to the public.

The final reply was again from Nuada:

_If it was the base for the original version of The World, shouldn't CC Corp have a record of it somewhere?_

They probably wouldn't anymore. Any record on The Epitaph of Twilight CC Corp might have had was likely destroyed along with the rest of The World files in that huge fire almost three years back now.

Finished reading, at least no one seemed to question why Renatus wanted the information. They might have thought he was a new player since he had never made a post before and just thought he hadn't gone through and read everything to know there were other posts about it.

With nothing else new on the Forum, Ryou backed out to the homepage and logged in to The World to meet Renatus.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: S<strong>orry if you feel like I have too much reading like the actual G.U. games did, but there will be a lot of that on purpose so be patient and you will be rewarded for it later.<strong>**


	3. Re: Meeting

_Chapter 3: Re: Meeting_

Haseo logged into The World, and came up in Mac Anu. "Let's see, the area words were **Λ Courageous Mounted Ceremony**; better go and see what he wants." He said to himself and turned around to target the Chaos Gate.

As told by CC Corp's email, when Haseo scrolled into his Town Selection, there was a new Root Town accessible; Lambda Root Town: the Kindred City, Imus Regnum. Putting his cursor over the Root Town's name, Haseo selected the Root Town and was warped into the new area.

When Haseo appeared in the new Server, he took a look at what the Root Town was like, and was actually quite impressed. "Wow," he said to himself as he looked around.

The immediate area around the Chaos Gate was a small field that had a single stone road leading through beautifully green grass up to a pair of tall, shining silver gates imbued with priceless jewels in an eye catching pattern at the top. Past the gates was a marvelous courtyard that spread out before and even more magnificent golden castle that stretched up in three towers that were topped with flat platforms of stone.

Looking at this amazing area, Haseo couldn't help but be impressed. "Hey, Haseo!" Haseo heard someone call him, and he didn't even have to look to recognize the overly joyous greeting.

Haseo looked back in front of him and saw Gaspard and Silabus run up to him. "Hey, Haseo," Silabus greeted his Guild Master. "So how about this new Server, huh; pretty elaborate don't you think?"

"I'll say," Haseo agreed. "Even Breg Epona doesn't compare to this place."

"Hey, hey, Haseo," Gaspard cut in. "Silabus and I were checking out the Quest Shop a minute ago and there are some pretty cool quests. You want to do one together?"

"Yeah, Gaspard, that's a great idea!" Silabus agreed. "What do you say Haseo? It'll be just like old times."

"Yeah sure, but It'll have to wait until later." Haseo answered. "I have someone else I need to meet up with right now."

"Oh, really?" Silabus asked. "Well then I'll Email you the details later, so be sure to let us know when you have some spare time." He told Haseo, and then he and Gaspard went to the Chaos Gate and warped out of Imus Regnum.

"Well, I don't have a lot of time, so I better get going to meet Renatus." Haseo told himself and turned to the Chaos Gate, going into his bookmarks and selecting the only one there; Λ Courageous Mounted Ceremony, and warped.

When Haseo appeared in the area, he looked around and saw a very run of the mill, small grassy field. The area level was 151, and Haseo was level 150, he only really needed to fight the monsters guarding the altars so he could get into the Beast Statue temple; and the faster the better.

Thinking that, Haseo took out his steam bike, which he had recently gotten equipped with a smokescreen function. As long as he was on the bike, monsters wouldn't see him unless he ran into them and started a battle. Looking at the map, there was one altar in the west and two in the east, with the Beast Statue being in the south.

Haseo turned his bike to face west and rode toward the first altar. Skipping any monsters along the way, Haseo drove up to the first altar and started the battle by ramming the goblins and defeated them with little problem despite being a level under the area. Haseo kicked open the treasure chest on the altar and obtained a Symbol Fragment.

It took him almost no time at all to ride his steam bike to the east side and obtain the last two Symbol Fragments in the same manor. Once done, Haseo got a message informing him the Fragments became the Judge's Symbol, unlocking the path to the Beast Statue. With this, Haseo rode his bike over to the temple in the south and entered.

When he entered, he found Renatus leaning against the side of the wall. "Alright Renatus, what's this you want to tell me that's so important you felt the need to call me out here to do it?" Haseo asked, sounding irritated.

Haseo still wasn't sure what to think about Renatus; as far he was concerned, he was just an ordinary character. However, this 'ordinary character' discovered a secret area within a Lost Ground, uncovered classified information about the Avatars, and tried to fight against Corbenik, somehow emerging unharmed.

Renatus looked over at Haseo and disregarded his sour attitude when he answered. "I have a confession to make about when we met at the Hulle Granz Cathedral." He said.

Haseo was a bit surprised, but his irritation didn't allow it to show. "What kind of confession?" He asked.

"When you received my flash mail to come to the Lost Ground… you didn't get that message as randomly as I made you think." Renatus told Haseo.

"Wait, you mean you did send it to me specifically?" Haseo asked, and then another question came to mind that almost pissed him off. "Okay spill it, just how much do you know about Avatars!"

"Don't jump to conclusions. I sent the message to you specifically yes, but I still didn't know anything about the 8 phases of Morgana till yesterday." Renatus told Haseo. "I joined The World when R: 2 first came out. But three months ago, I took a breather from playing the game."

Renatus was confusing Haseo now. "You stopped playing for three months? What does that have to do with anything?" He asked.

"A lot actually," Renatus answered. "Because when I started playing again last week, I did research by reading all the posts on the forums for The World to see what I missed while I was gone. Apparently, I missed a lot."

Now Haseo saw where this was going. Three months ago was when Renatus stopped playing The World. It was also while Haseo was still the 'Terror of Death' searching for Tri-Edge. It wasn't long after that time Ovan reappeared and pointed him to Hulle Granz Cathedral, and he was Data Drained by Azure Kite, who at the time he believed to be Tri-Edge. That was the time everything happened in The World involving AIDA and the Avatars.

Even if regular players didn't know exactly what was going on, that didn't stop them from posting their concerns, questions, and wildest theories on what it all was on forums and the rumor board. Renatus must have more or less gotten the gist of how strange the occurrences that happened during his absence were, and become intrigued by it.

"But the thing it, among all of the things I learned though my research, a lot of the events I found strange revolved around a certain character; his name: Haseo." Renatus continued. "Back when I was still playing, I heard a lot about the famous PKK, the Terror of Death; in fact I had hoped to encounter him one day. But when I came back I found out that apparently, that Haseo had his character restarted, becoming involved with many characters and guilds that were also well known, including Kestrel and the now disbanded Moon Tree. You also went through and beat all three tournaments at the Arena-"

"I get it, where's the point in all of this?" Haseo interrupted, as Renatus was likely to go on for a while even though Haseo knew all of this. After all, it was he who lived the events.

"The point is, since you were such an important character in all the events that happened during my absence, I chose you to send the message to, thinking it would be good to have a strong second when I went through the warp point."

"So basically, you needed a second and didn't want it to be just anyone? So you chose me."

"That's another thing; you don't actually need to people to get through the warp point that led to Corbenik."

"Uh!" Haseo stuttered.

"I thought it was just a hidden quest, but considering how well hidden it was, I didn't think it would like any other quest. So I decided to recruit you for back-up. If it weren't for that I would have gone through on my own, and frankly I can't say what would have happened to me if I had."

That was for sure. Corbenik planned to send Renatus into a coma because he was a regular player. If Haseo hadn't stopped his initial attack with Skeith, Renatus might not even be here. "So, why did you want to tell me all this?" Haseo asked.

"I just wanted you to know; you've been honest with me so far, so I wanted to be honest with you." Renatus answered. "Well it's almost noon, I'll head over to Raven now." he said and left the Beast Temple.

"Well, no use staying here anymore; I'll head back to town." Haseo told himself.

Haseo opened the treasure in front of the Beast Statue and obtained a new pair of Dual Swords, Spin Strike. He equipped them and then left the Beast Temple, using the warp point outside to warp back to Imus Regnum.

Once back in town, Haseo decided to look around the new Root Town and check out the shops. After a while, a message appeared at the bottom of his screen telling him he had received new mail, and he logged out to see what it was about.

Going straight to the mail station, Ryou found he had mail from Silabus, Gaspard, and Yata. Yata's was marked important, so Ryou opened it first. The message read:

Sender: Yata

Subject: Renatus

_Come to **Raven's Home**. There are some details we must work out._

"Yata's calling me. Guess I'll go to Raven's Home." Ryou said to himself, but before logging back into The World.

Sender: Gaspard

Subject: New Root Town.

_So Haseo, that new Root Town was really cool huh? I heard CC Corp is supposed to be planning some kind of special event there later. I wonder what that will be like?_

Ryou decided to reply to Gaspard and asked if he had heard any specifics about what kind of event it was supposed to be, and then agreed that the Root Town was something else. After that, he opened Silabus' mail, reading:

Sender: Silabus

Subject: Lambda Quest

_So Gaspard and I were looking at the Quest Shop in the new Root Town and found one that looked pretty good. If you ever have some time, invite me and Gaspard and we can all go together. The Quest is called **Goblin Mania**. Thanks a lot._

_-Silabus_

That was it for Ryou's mail, so he went back and logged back into The World. Once he was in, he used the Chaos Gate and warped to Mac Anu and headed to the Mercenary District, entering the Raven Home. When he entered he found all the Epitaph Users plus Renatus waiting there.

"So Yata, what's this about, 'details' to work out?" Haseo asked, and all eyes turned to him.

Yata pushed up his glasses and answered. "Yes, after I explained to Renatus about the Avatars and everything else he needed to know, I asked him for his point of view about what happened to the two of you while in Corbenik's area. Specifically about when he was attacked and Corbenik vanished."

"When Corbenik's attack and mine collided, the stalemate that resulted was different from the kind that results from the clashing of sword." Renatus explained. "At that point, it seemed like Corbenik had frozen in place, like he just became an object in a graphics field. And when he disappeared, it looked like a program was being uploaded, and that's what caused his disappearance."

"Uploaded; you mean into Corbenik?" Haseo questioned.

"More or less; I'm still not entirely sure." Renatus answered.

"However," Yata cut in. "From this information, I believe we can surmise that one of the two following scenarios must have taken place if, as you say, Renatus should not have been able to leave without Corbenik's consent. The first scenario, Corbenik was forcibly moved out of his physical Avatar Space to a different area, allowing someone on the outside to warp you both out while Corbenik was not in control."

"Forcibly removed?" Kuhn asked. "Is that even possible?"

"It is." Yata replied. "That is, if Corbenik were summoned by an Epitaph User."

At this, the others in the room were all left speechless. Looking at their stunned faces, Renatus had to ask a question. "What is it, is there some reason Corbenik shouldn't have an Epitaph User? He asked.

"No, he had one, but that user's status in the real world is still unknown. He has not logged onto The World since the end of the Second Network Crisis; since Cubia," Yata answered.

Atoli spoke up next. "So wait, if Ovan couldn't have done it, then what's the second possibility?"

Following Atoli's question, a silence surrounded the Guild as Yata prepared his answer. "That is… If Ovan was not the cause of Corbenik's actions and your removal from the Avatar Space; then the only other scenario is that Corbenik chose Renatus to become his new Epitaph User." He said, and then a silence even more eerie enveloped everyone.

"His new Epitaph User? The Avatars can change who their user is?" Haseo questioned.

"Yes, and in fact this would not be the first case of it either." Yata added. "As it turns out, your friend Shino was the original candidate for Innis' user." He said, and then Haseo looked over at Atoli, who flinched at hearing this. "When Shino was placed into a coma, Innis chose Atoli as its new user."

"And because Ovan hasn't logged into The World since then, Corbenik had been looking for a replacement." Haseo finished the thought.

"Wait, now that I'm thinking about it, Corbenik did say something about how I 'reminded him' of someone." Renatus noted. "Do you think he could have meant his previous user?"

"At this point, it's quite possible." Yata answered.

"So how do we test to see if it's true?"

"We summon an Avatar." Yata said. "Before, you could only see the Avatars because their physical bodies were presented in front of you. But here, if one of us summons an Avatar, only an Epitaph User will see it. If you are now Corbenik's user, we will know in just a moment."

After Yata said this, his body began to glow with red-orange patterns. After that, an Avatar Space grew out around him, and the Epitaph Users looked up at Fidchell's form and then at Renatus, waiting for confirmation.

After a second of examining his surroundings, Renatus looked up a confirmed it. "I can see it." He said, and Yata released his Avatar state. "So which one was that?"

"Fidchell, the Prophet." Yata answered.

"So it's true, Renatus is an Epitaph User?" Endrance asked for confirmation.

"If Fidchell looks like a body balancing on a top-for-legs with four disks with eyes on them and a red and gold orb for a head, then yeah, I'm an Epitaph User." Renatus replied.

With Renatus giving a description of an Avatar he had never seen until now, there was no longer room for doubt. Renatus was the Epitaph User of Corbenik.


	4. Research

_Chapter 4: Research_

"So, I guess that makes me an Epitaph User." Renatus stated simply, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Renatus," Kuhn spoke with his serious tone of voice he only used with truly dire situations. "The way you're taking this concerns me. I don't want you brushing this off like it has no real consequence, because it does.

Pi interjected her thoughts. "Kuhn is absolutely right Renatus; as an Epitaph User, you have been gifted with incredible power. But that power also had an immense amount of risk." She said, telling Renatus much the same things that she told Haseo when he first learned to use Skeith. "The Avatars, that is, the eight phases have the potential to go berserk. If that should ever happen; you will be put in danger, not just your character, but you the player may be put into a coma like those attacked by AIDA during your absence in the game.

"As well as anyone around you," Continued Kuhn. "Using an Avatar's Power could easily put any regular player into a coma as well. Even after you learn to summon your Avatar, you should _never _use it." He said, stressing the importance of every word clearly.

"So if AIDA and Cubia are both gone, what point is there anymore for the Avatars' existence?" Renatus questioned.

Yata answered. "The Eight Phases of Morganna are not weapons initially created to combat AIDA. They are data that have formed a consciousness and cannot be deleted. If the Avatars could be erased, CC Corp. would never have allowed their existence in the first place. The Avatars are an unavoidable part of The World. And though we managed to contain them, they seek freedom, which can only be obtained through our use of them."

"So the whole time we use them in battle, their looking for a chance to gain control." Renatus summarized.

"That's right," This time Haseo tuned in. "I've has my share of experience with berserk Avatars; and they fight on a completely different level than we can." He told Renatus, recalling when Skeith went berserk against Kuhn, and when he fought Fidchell. "I don't want to have to see that happen again."

I get it." Renatus told them. "I wasn't trying to take it lightly though; I'm just naturally calm."

"Well then, if everyone is satisfied, I will adjourn our meeting for today." Yata told everyone. "But Renatus, I would like to have one last word with you; so if you do not mind, please stay behind a little while longer."

"Sure," Renatus said, and then waited for everyone else to leave the Home.

Once they had gone, Yata got strait to the point. "So Renatus, I understand you have been looking for information on 'The Epitaph of Twilight'…" He began, which was enough to call up Renatus' full attention.

"Well I've got nothing else to do right now; I think I'll go on that quest with Silabus and Gaspard." Haseo said to himself after leaving Raven's Home.

Thinking that, Haseo warped to the Dome and went inside to the Chaos Gate, warping back to Lambda Server. Once there, Haseo went into his member addresses and invited Silabus and Gaspard into his part, and both graciously accepted.

With the three members together, Haseo took Silabus and Gaspard past the front gates from the Chaos Gate's square and entered the courtyard's main area. Haseo found the Quest Shop using his map and then accepted the only question currently available, "**Goblin Mania**".

After accepting the quest, the NPC looking over the shop called up the commissioner who would give them the details on the question. A moment later, and NPC known as DR. Kubo walked up to them and spoke, although only the text showed up on the screen, unaccompanied by a voice except for the occasional prerecorded words and sounds. "Hello, my name is Dr. Kubo; I am the leading expert on Chim Spheres." He introduced himself. "Now I know what you must be thinking, my expertise and my quest don't exactly match up do they? Well, that is because I have recently discovered a new breed of Goblin, called a** Chimgob** that is capable of generating Chim Spheres! I know, it is quite marvelous.

"And of course, as a Chim Sphere expert I want to know more about this new breed of Goblin. If you could got the area **Λ Natural Oblivious Wilderness **and gather as much data as you can by defeating all the **Chimgobs **you can find in the area, it would be most helpful in my research. I wish you good luck and hope for your swift return." Dr. Kubo told them and left.

Once the NPC was gone, Haseo spoke. "A Goblin that generates Chim Spheres, huh? Well that's new."

So wait, do we have to fight it or kick it?" Silabus asked.

"Right, let's get going!" Gaspard said cheerfully.

Haseo set off for the Chaos Gate and chose the area words **Λ Natural Oblivious Wilderness **from his Bookmarks and warped the party of three to the location of their quest. They arrived in one of the Cathedral-like dungeons that always had the same strait forward 0floor design, but at least that meant there was no way of overlooking their targets.

"Find and eliminate all **Chimgobs **in the area." Haseo said, rerunning the quest out loud to make sure he knew what to do.

"Alright! Let's go!" Gaspard cheered in a way Haseo found overly happy.

"Well, let's be on our way Haseo." Silabus said, and then the three of them were off.

"Haseo, Silabus, and Gaspard went through the floor, and were forced to fight all the monsters in the floor just so they could dispel a barrier that would keep them from continuing without doing so. Finally, at the very end of the floor, they found a party of three Chimgobs. "Alright, let's get 'em!" Haseo yelled out to his party and entered combat.

Haseo toggled the Demon Awakening mode and used it right of the bat. This rendered the Chimgobs immobile for a period of time while they rapidly struck them down. Quickly enough, the Chimgobs were defeated and Haseo discovered the new breed of Goblin did in fact generate Chim Spheres. He had been awarded a total of 15 Chim Spheres for the battle, meaning each one gave him 5 alone.

But there was another floor to the dungeon, so Haseo couldn't be sure there weren't more Chimgobs further down, and so pressed on and went up to the next floor.. Once through the door, Haseo used a Fairy's Orb and discovered that this was the only remaining floor, meaning any outstanding Chimgobs would be on this floor.

Once again the three of them were forced to fight through all the monsters on the floor to get rid of barriers, which had become slightly tedious with their increased levels making the monsters easy to defeat. Like last time, a single party of three Chimgobs was found at the end of the floor just before the Beast Statue.

"Okay, let's make this quick." Haseo told his party and charged into battle once more.

Haseo did not have Awakening ready for use at the moment, and so had to start off the battle fighting regularly. Even so, the Chimgobs provided little challenge after leveling up thanks to their previous battles, and by the time the Morale bar was filled, two of the three Chimgobs were dead.

Haseo decided not to waste it and the three continued to attack the single remaining Chimgob until its HP hit 0.

And yet, "What the hell; it didn't die!" Haseo questioned, shocked.

Even though the final Chimgob's HP read 0, it still moved and fought against Haseo and his party. "Is this part of the quest? Or is it some kind of bug?" Silabus speculated the possible explanations.

"Keep attacking it!" Haseo ordered, and all three began using every attack, Spell, and Art at their disposal. But even though the monster acted like a normal monster in every other way, no matter how much they attacked it, it simply wouldn't die. "What the hell is going on?" Haseo asked himself when the abnormality began to truly piss him off.

"We can't… kill it." Silabus stated, trying to rap his head around why.

"Oh man, what do we do now?" Gaspard asked, his earlier bravado gone as he began to worry.

Haseo considered his options. He could use a smokescreen and run, forgetting about the question and return to town. He could always do that, but before he gave into the last resort, there was one other thing Haseo could attempt.

'**Avatar Awakening**'. The mode of Awakening only Haseo had that allowed him to Data Drain monsters without summoning his Avatar by borrowing the strength of his party. Data Drain could rewrite data within the system of The World, including monster data. Using that, Haseo might just be able to defeat the immortal monster.

At the very least, it was worth a shot. Haseo toggled the Avatar Awakening mode and activated its use. With the power of Data Drain, Haseo struck the Goblin creature full force and – as he had hoped – the Chimgob finally died. Although he had used something he only had as an Epitaph User, Silabus and Gaspard believed it was just a special type of Awakening he had unlocked somehow, and probably believed the use of Awakening was just necessary to finish the quest.

As usual per use of Avatar Awakening, Data Draining the small monster awarded Haseo with one virus core, although he no longer had any need for it. However, unlike normal, another item was awarded to Haseo alongside the virus core; a key item that was titled: '**SEED -A-**'.

"Huh, what's this?" Haseo muttered to himself.

"What is Haseo; is something wrong?" Gaspard asked, overhearing Haseo's question.

Haseo paused before replying. "No, it's nothing. Let's head back to the Quest Shop." He said, and the three left the dungeon.

Once back at the Quest Shop, the NPC Dr. Kubo came up to them again. "Oh, you're back already? Splendid! So, did you gather the data I requested?" He asked, but with an automated response did not wait for an actual answer. "Yes, this data will prove most useful in my research on Chim Spheres. Oh yes, my home is in the Mercenary District of Mac Anu. If you ever find the time, drop on by and I may have a job or two for you to do on the side.

"Well then, goodbye for now; please, collect your reward at the Quest Shop counter." Dr. Kubo told them and left.

Haseo spoke with the Quest Shop NPC and received a **Text of Power** as a reward. "Things got a little dicey there at the end, but it all worked out okay." Silabus noted.

"Yeah, for a moment I didn't think we'd make it out of there." Gaspard said with relief coloring his voice.

"Thanks again Haseo, it was really fun hanging out with you like old times." Silabus said, and then he and Gaspard left Haseo's party to attend to other duties.

Haseo noticed the 'New Mail' icon appear on his screen when he had returned to Imus Regnum, and since he had nothing particular to do anymore, he logged out to check what it was.

**Area Words: Λ Hidden Forbidden Twilight**

In a certain area at a certain time, Renatus warped in and stepped forward while recalling his conversation with Yata.

_ I understand you have been looking for information on 'The Epitaph of Twilight…" Yata began, which was enough to call up Renatus' full attention. "As I'm sure you already know, The Epitaph of Twilight is what the original version of The World was based on. What I expect you also have come to learn is that the Eight Phases of Morganna are also mentioned in the Epitaph by their names." Yata said, to which Renatus gave a nod. "Those names are also engraves in the pedestal of the Hulle Granz Cathedral for that reason._

_ "That is what I truly wish to speak about. The Lost Grounds are special areas that have to do with the background of the World, and one of the other Lost Grounds, Arche Koeln, is also mentioned in the Epitaph. For this reason, the Lost Grounds have always been a personal interest of mine. So, when the new server came online, I took the liberty of running through all possible word combinations for a Lost Ground, and I have found there to be one."_

_ "So what is it you want me to do?" Renatus asked, although he already had a pretty good idea where this was going._

_ "I would like for you to investigate the Lost Ground and return to tell me what you find." Yata answered, just as Renatus expected. "If my suspicious prove correct, what is kept there may disturb the status quo of The World once again."_

_ "If it has something to do with The Epitaph of Twilight, I'll be happy to help out." Renatus told Yata._

_ "Even if you find nothing regarding the Epitaph, I will gladly share with you the information I already possess on the Epitaph, granted you continue working with **G.U.**" Yata added. "The area words you will be heading to are: **Λ Hidden Forbidden Twilight**. Depart as soon as you are ready."_

Immediately, Renatus has set out to the area. What he found there was quite amazing in his personal opinion. "Well well well, what do we have here?" Renatus asked himself with a grin, and then began to look around.

The area was small, and it was floating within an empty space that looked just like the space he had found Corbenik in. The floating mass he stood on was made entirely out of metal, although the platform's shape itself resembled the appearance of some kind of ruins.

But the most interesting part of the area was its centerpiece, which was a large metal box that was suspended in mid-air. And surrounding the box on all four sides were tall glass pillars with a hexagon shape on the top.

Renatus looked around the area in extreme detail, attempting to target anything and everything to see if there was anything to interact with and learn what the importance this area held. But to his disappointment, the only thing he was able to interact with was the suspended box, which only triggered a text screen that read: **Inside is something that should never be released.**

But then, just as Renatus was about to leave, a change occurred in the Lost Ground. One of the four glass pillars began to glow, as if reacting to something. However, Renatus did not notice this change occur, because before he could, he was knocked unconscious by something unseen. Not just in the game, but in real life as well, Renatus fainted.


	5. Rediscover

_Chapter 5: Rediscover_

Back on The World main page, Ryou clicked Quit to head out to ALTIMIT OS homepage, and then entered the mail station. Once in, the first thing he saw was an E-mail from Yata titled 'Urgent'. Knowing Yata, it must have been something big, so Ryou check it first.

Subject: Urgent

Sender: Yata

A Problem has occurred, come to **Raven's Home** immediately.

And that was all, simple and direct. Yata always did like to give the details in person. There was a message from CC Corp., but considering the urgency of Yata's mail, Ryou ignored it and quickly logged back into The World.

Once logged in, Haseo used the Chaos Gate to warp to Mac Anu and went over to Raven's Home. "Alright Yata, I'm here. Now what was so important?" He asked Yata.

"Just a moment, Kuhn and Pi should be here shortly." Yata replied, and sure enough just a few minutes later, Kuhn and Pi came running in.

"Master Yata, what's the problem?" Pi asked with concern.

"Yeah, your E-mail sounded pretty serious." Kuhn noted, as Yata did not normally order their _immediate_ response.

"After everyone had left, I asked Renatus to investigate a new Lost Ground in the Lambda Server for me."

"Investigate?" Haseo questioned.

"Was there something strange about this particular Lost Ground?" Pi asked.

"That I was aware of at the time, no. I asked Renatus to investigate it because I believed it might hold information on The Epitaph of Twilight, which he was interested in." Yata answered, and Haseo recalled that Renatus had posted a question about the Epitaph a while ago.

"So what's the problem; did Renatus find something at the Lost Ground?" Kuhn asked.

"I'm afraid that the problem is that Renatus has not returned." Yata answered. Yata answered.

"Hasn't returned? So what, it could be he just isn't done searching the area, right?" Haseo suggested.

"Except that I received a short mail from Renatus some time ago informing me he had finished inspecting the area, and yet has not returned. I am worried something has happened to prevent him from leaving, and so I have called you three here to go to the area and learn why Renatus has not come back." Yata told them.

"Understood," Pi answered immediately.

"We'll get right on it." Kuhn said next.

Haseo thought for a second and the others all looked at him. "Alright, I'll go." He said, honestly a bit irritated that Yata couldn't do this much himself.

"Very good, the Lost Ground you will be heading to can be found at **Λ Hidden Forbidden Twilight**."

With that, Haseo invited Kuhn and Pi into his party and went to the Chaos Gate to get back to Imus Regnum, and from there used his Bookmarks to select the Lost Ground, known as **New Temple of Tenebris Sigilli** and warped to the area.

Upon entering the Lost Ground, the first thing they saw was Renatus, sprawled across the floor. "Uh, Renatus!" Haseo shouted and he, Kuhn, and Pi raced up to him. "Hey, hey wake up!" Haseo shouted while shaking Renatus.

"What could have happened here?" Kuhn asked himself, completely shocked at seeing Renatus' state.

But suddenly, something happened. A certain key item reacted to a certain something in the Lost Ground. From Haseo, the **SEED -A-** flew out and glowed, distracting Haseo and the others from Renatus. The **SEED -A- **flew across the room and upward until it shot into one of the four glass pillars surrounding a metal box suspended in the air, and the hexagon on top of the pillar turned bright red. Following this, the glass pillar began to sink into the floor until only the hexagon remained above ground.

A sort of click was heard, as if something was unlocked. And then, as if it were a cue, Renatus woke up. "Uh…" He muttered as he awoke and stood up.

"Renatus," Haseo began, alerting him to his presence. "What happened to you?"

Renatus shook his head as if shaking of drowsiness before answering. "I'm not sure…" He said. "I remember I was looking around the Lost Ground, and then I was about to leave but- wait, how did that happen?" Renatus interrupted himself as he brought his focus to the glass pillar that was now sunken into the ground.

Haseo explained to everyone about the quest he had gone on and about the immortal Chimgob. When he explained how he obtained the **SEED -A- **and that it somehow caused the change in the Lost Ground, Pi added her thoughts.

"But what exactly does the quest and this Lost Ground have to do with each other?" She asked.

"Nothing probably," Haseo answered. "If I had to Data Drain the monster to beat item then the fact the monster in a quest held the item was probably just coincidence."

"Also," Kuhn added. "If the item had to be obtained through Data Drain, then it can't possibly be a regularly sanctioned event. Meaning, this is something even more important than Yata originally believed."

"So that's why he wanted us to come instead of going himself." Haseo realized.

"Yes, if something had gone wrong, we may have had to use out Avatars. And of all the Epitaph Users, we at the three with the most experience using out Avatars, save for Endrance." Pi explained.

"But there's still the question of what happened to Renatus." Kuhn noted, and they all turned to Renatus, hoping for some kind of explanation.

"Sorry, I can't remember anything after telling Yata I was on my way back." Renatus told them, to their disappointment. "Well, let's head back to town before something else happens."

"Yeah," Haseo agreed and the four of them warped back to Imus Regnum.

"You guys don't have to worry about reporting to Yata, I'll explain everything to him myself." Renatus told the others once they returned.

"Very well, then I will be logging off now." Pi said, leaving Haseo's party and logging out.

"This probably goes without saying, but don't be going to the Lost Ground anymore until we know more." Kuhn told Renatus, and then followed Pi's lead and logged out.

Haseo himself has nothing to add. "Alright then, I'll be heading out." Renatus said and turned to the Chaos Gate and warped away.

Haseo knew Renatus was an overly calm person when it came to extreme situations, but not being fazed even after being knocked unconscious without any apparent reason was too much not to even flinch at. It made him wonder if Renatus was really just that put together of if he was just hiding his real emotions.

He remembered Corbenik chose Renatus as his new Epitaph User because he reminded him of Ovan. So if he really was that much like Ovan, than it may have actually been the former that was true.

With nothing else to do, Haseo logged out. Ryou clicked the quit button to get back to his Homepage, but was getting tired after being on for so long. It was almost noon anyways, so Ryou left his computer on his Homepage and left his room.

When Ryou returned to his computer, he went into the mail station and saw that along with CC Corps' E-mail from earlier, he also had an E-mails from Gaspard, Kuhn, Pi, and Endrance. Ryou began reading from the bottom with CC Corps mail, which was just informing him of the Chim Chim event he could now take part in by visiting Dr. Kubo. It also told him that the third word **Wilderness **could be used to easily find Chimgobs.

Gaspard's E-mail was a reply to Haseo's reply of Gaspard's original mail talking about Imus Regnum. It read:

Sender: Gaspard

Subject: RE: New Root Town

_What kind of event, do you have any detail?_

_And I have to agree with you, Imus Regnum is something else._

Well right now it's still just a rumor. So I don't know anything else, sorry.

But if anything shows up I'll be sure to let you know!

P.S. Things sure got difficult at the end of the quest, huh? Why do you think the Chimgob wouldn't die?

As Gaspard asked the question, Haseo definitely couldn't tell him about the **SEED -A- **now. So he just sent a reply saying that he couldn't be sure, but that it might have had something to do with using Awakening.

The next mail was from Pi.

Sender: Pi

Subject: Renatus condition

Although Renatus did not seem concerned with what happened to him, I am. For a player to lose consciousness is not a simple matter for us. I will talk with Master Yata about looking into this further; meanwhile, I would like to request you talk with Renatus about the incident, in case he remembers anything.

After that was Kuhn's mail.

Sender: Kuhn

Subject: Lost Ground

We're still not sure what that Lost Ground id for or what the **SEED -A- **is, but I'd like to restate that you shouldn't be going back there until we can learn more. We don't want something like what happened to Renatus happening to anyone else, in case they don't wake up from it next time.

Finally was the mail from Endrance.

Sender: Endrance

Subject: A Clue

Haseo, I've been thinking about the hidden area you found Corbenik in and… I think I may know the whereabouts of my own Avatar, Macha. But before I tell the others, I want to confirm it myself. If you would, please come with me to the Indieglut Lugh Lost Ground at **Δ ****Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood**.

"The path to Macha?" Ryou asked to himself. "If we can get more information on the Avatars, I'd better go." He said, and then logged back into The World.

Once logged in, Haseo warped to Mac Anu, where he found Endrance waiting for him. "Haseo, thank you for coming." He told Haseo.

"Don't worry about it; at this point we can use all the information we can get our hands on." Haseo replied.

"Then let's not waste any time. We're going to **Δ ****Hidden Forbidden Dead Wood**." Endrance reminded Haseo.

Haseo invited Endrance to his party and selected the Lost Ground Indieglut Lugh from his bookmarks and warped. But what they had not realized was a certain someone who had seen them and listened in on where they were heading.

Haseo and Endrance appeared in Indieglut Lugh and walked forward. "So what makes you think the path to Macha is here?" Haseo asked.

Before answering, Endrance stopped walking. "Because, this is where I always felt closest to 'Her'." He said.

"Her?" Haseo questioned, but then was brought back to the Demon Palace Tournament. AIDA mimicked Endrance's cat to Manipulate him into doing what is wanted. "You mean the cat?"

"Yes, Mia." Endrance answered. "AIDA tricked me into thinking it was Her when in truth, She was even closer to me than I thought; I just didn't realize it."

"But what does Mia have to do with Macha?" Haseo asked.

"Mia is Macha." Endrance answered, completely shocking Haseo. "In the previous version of The World, Macha was sealed into a PC called Mia, who only existed in The World. I played as Elk and became friends with her, and she became my whole world."

"So what happened?" Haseo asked.

"Mia's consciousness was eventually overcome by Morganna's will. After she was defeated along with the other phases, I found Mia again, although she has no memory of being Macha. After that, The World was lost in the fire at CC Corp, and Mia along with it."

"That's awful." Haseo said.

"AIDA used the hole in my heart as a place to control me from. But it was only after you and Renatus found Corbenik that I began to realize the true reason I felt so close to Mia here…"

"Because Macha might be here." Haseo finished Endrance's thought. Now that Haseo understood why Endrance believed the path to Macha was here, all that was left was to find it. "Then let's start looking."

"There is no need. I believe I already know where the hidden path is." Endrance said, and then began walking toward the shining tree in the middle of the lake.

Haseo followed until they came up to the water of the lake, at which point he stopped. However, Endrance continued walking and walked across the Surface of the water. Haseo was about to asked how when he recalled the very first time he saw Endrance here, and he was sitting at the base of the tree and walked around behind it. Haseo supposed that – like with the hidden area in the Cathedral behind the pedestal – it just wasn't something he ever thought about trying to do.

With the thought past, Haseo continued to follow Endrance up and behind the tree. "Here," Endrance said and reached his hand out to the tree, and it fazed through, revealing it to be a hidden area, and they both entered.

"They went down a spiraling staircase carved out of the tree roots until they came to a door, which they opened to enter a secret room, in which were eight statues as in the Cathedral, representing the original forms of the Avatars.

"Looks like you were right. We should go back and tell the others now." Haseo said.

However, Endrance walked up to the statue labeled Macha and took out his weapon, striking the stature, and this action caused a warp point to appear in front of it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Haseo asked.

"Going to see Macha." Endrance answered as if it should be obvious. "You said that Epitaph Users are able to warp out of the Avatars' space at will, so if anything happens, we can just leave." He told Haseo, although that thought didn't ease his worried at all. Nonetheless, Haseo nodded his head in agreement and Endrance touched the warp point, and both of them were warped out of the Lost Ground's hidden area.

The area they warped into was, like the Cathedral, an outer space of an Avatar. For a moment, there was nothing in the area except for Haseo and Endrance, and in response to that emptiness, Endrance spoke.

"Come on out, I know you're there."

And then, in response to Endrance, a figure appeared in front of him: Macha. "Hello again, Elk."


	6. Reacquaint

_Chapter 6: Reacquaint_

"So then, you do remember?" Endrance asked Macha, who had just greeted him as 'Elk', the name of Endrance's character in the previous version of The World.

"I do, I remember; everything." Macha replied.

Haseo looked up at Macha but stayed silent because he was honestly shocked at the way Macha was behaving. In Corbenik's case, he spoke to Haseo and Renatus with a condescending tone of voice, like he believed he were far superior to them. But in Macha's case, the way she spoke was kind, almost sorrowful like she regretted something. Haseo had never thought of the Avatar's as living beings either, so thinking of how they have actual emotions like people was hard to comprehend.

"Elk, I'm sorry for everything you've been forced to go through because of me." Macha said, really throwing Haseo for a loop.

Yata had said the Eight Phases were the enemy, and Corbenik for one had definitely made that appear to be true. But so far Macha was acting completely opposite to that standard. It made Haseo wonder, just what was Endrance to Macha in R: 1?

"Mia," Endrance began, using the name of the PC Macha had been in during R: 1. "Don't blame yourself; none of it was your fault. It was all because of Morganna you were forced to fight."

"Wait, forced to fight?" Haseo finally spoke. "Then what about the other phases?" He asked, wondering perhaps if Yata only believed they were the enemy because he had fought them in R: 1."

"You are Skeith's Epitaph User…" Macha started, as if she just took notice of Haseo. "To answer your question, the other phases all chose to fight, though their motivations likely differed from-" Suddenly Macha was cut off when someone began warping into the area.

When the warp in action had been completed, Haseo was the first to react. "Uh, Renatus; what are you doing here?" He asked the Steam Gunner.

"I saw you and Endrance in town and overheard your plans to come here." Renatus told Haseo. "I was curious to what you two were doing, so I followed. Didn't expect to see this though; Macha, correct?" He asked, looking up at the Avatar.

"You are Corbenik's new Epitaph User; yes, that is correct." Macha stated, showing she knew who Renatus was.

"How do you know who I am?" Renatus questioned.

"I am able to view The World through the eyes of my Epitaph User at anytime. When it was proved you were an Epitaph User, I watched through Elk's eyes." Macha explained, motioning to Endrance so there was no confusion on who 'Elk' was. "And that holds true for all the Eight Phases, meaning Skeith and Corbenik are likely monitoring this conversation."

"Is that a problem?" Renatus questioned.

"No, even if they are watching, they are unable to do anything." Macha answered.

"In that case, I'd like to ask you a question." Renatus said to Macha. "Do you know anything about Aura?"

At Renatus's question, there was a moment of silence until Haseo turned to him. "Renatus, what are you thinking?" He asked, as asking about Aura had no meaning for what they were trying.

"It's what I've been after since the beginning." Renatus answered. "As you might recall, when I called you to the Cathedral, I spoke of the Phases as secondary; and my primary concern was Aura. Whether or not it's important to you, Aura is what I am searching for; I'm just hoping that Macha and the other Phases can lead me to her."

Once Renatus said this, Macha answered his earlier question. "If it is information on Aura, I am probably the one that knows the most about her. What exactly do you wish to know?"

"The first thing I'd like to know is… her present location?" Renatus asked.

At this, Macha sighed. "I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that question. She might be within The World, or she might be wandering the net, I'm afraid the only one who knows where Aura is, is Aura herself."

"I see… then it's back to square one again." Renatus stated, although it was hard to tell if he thought of that as an unwanted annoyance or a welcomed challenge. "Well, I've got no more questions, so I'll be leaving now. It was a pleasure, Macha." Renatus said, and then warped out of the area of his own accord, which he was now able to do as an Epitaph User.

"Was there… anything else, Elk?" Macha asked, as their original conversation had been interrupted by Renatus.

"No, I just wanted to be know if… if you were still Mia or not." Endrance replied.

"I see." Macha said. "Goodbye then, Elk."

"Goodbye…" Endrance replied. "Let's go, Haseo."

"Right," Haseo said, though still a little overwhelmed.

Endrance warped out, and Haseo was about to follow suit when Macha spoke again. "Wait a moment, please." She said to Haseo. "Haseo… I would like to ask you a favor."

"A favor; what is it?" Haseo questioned, wondering what she wanted to ask him to do after Endrance had left.

"Will you please look after Elk for me?" Macha asked, once more throwing Haseo for a loop. "Elk is too fragile to be left on his own. You are important to him; you are what keeps him strong now. So please, look after him in my place."

Haseo looked down as if thinking about it, but then lifted it and replied. "You don't have to worry." He told Macha. "Endrance is tougher than you think, he can take care of himself. And I'm not the only one he has to support him. The people from G.U., the other Arena Emperors, and most of all, he has Saku. So don't you worry, Endrance is going to be just fine, I promise."

Hearing these words, Macha became completely reassured. "Thank you, Haseo." She said, and then Haseo nodded to her, and then warped out as well.

Haseo reappeared in Mac Anu. As he did, he wondered why when they warped out of the Avatar's area's they ended up in the Root Towns instead of back in the Lost Ground; but it didn't seem that important, so he let the small detail slide.

Endrance was there as well, however it looked like Renatus had already gone elsewhere. "Thank you for coming with me, Haseo." Endrance said.

"Don't mention it." Haseo told him.

"I will handle telling Yata about Macha's area, so you don't need to worry about it Haseo."

"Sure, thanks." Haseo replied and then Endrance logged off to send Yata the E-mail.

"Well, guess I'll log off now and check my E-mail." Haseo said to himself, as he had nothing better to do, and the new mail icon had appeared when he warped back to Mac Anu.

Ryou logged out and exited to the ALTIMIT Homepage. When he opened up the mail station, he found mails from Endrance and Kuhn. Starting from the bottom, Haseo opened up Endrance's mail.

Sender: Endrance

Subject: Thank You

I want to thank you once more for coming with me to see Mia. In truth, I had asked you to come with me because I wasn't sure what I might have tried to do if I had gone on my own and met her after so long…

Even if Mia had attack, I don't think I would have been able to run away, so thank you, Haseo.

"Endrance… the whole time you were relying on me for help." Ryou said to himself clicking out of the E-mail, and was brought back to Macha's request. "Well, there's no need to worry. Even if you don't think so, you're stronger than that Endrance. You don't need it, but I'll be here to help."

With that thought, Ryou opened Kuhn's mail.

Sender: Kuhn

Subject: Rumor board

Haseo, have you looked at the Rumor board? Someone is claiming to have faced an immortal monster like the one you got the **SEED -A-** from. If this has to do with the New Temple of Tenebris Sigilli, we should look into it.

"There's a rumor about an immortal monster on the Forums?" Ryou said as he read the message. "I should check it out."

Ryou exited the mail station and entered the Community Forums, and then opened the one marked **Rumor**. When he did, a new thread had been started titled: Hidden Event?

Ryou opened the thread's string of replies and began reading. The person who started the thread, K.O., explained what happened.

Me and my friends were in an area the other day when we started fighting this pair of Crustacean monsters called Seawarders. We killed one of them, but when we got the second down to 0 HP, it kept attacking us. We tried everything we could think of but nothing worked, so we had to use a Smokescreen and leave.

Is this some kind of event or something for the game? Or is it a bug?

With the conditions K.O. gave, it certainly sounded like the same thing Ryou had experienced during his quest. The next post was by Renji:

Wow, haven't heard of a bug quite like that one before. And you know, this is the first big rumor I've seen since the Black Dot's rumor died down. I'd like to know more though, do you still remember the Area Words you went to?

Answering back, K.O. gave the area words.

Oh right, the Area Words were **Λ Treacherous Grieving Black Pine**. Maybe you guys can have more luck than I did…

That was all there was on the thread for the moment, so Ryou backed out of the Forums. "Kuhn was right; it's just like during my Quest. We should head over there and see what's up." He said and then went to log back into The World.

After leaving from Macha's area, Renatus had returned to the Lost Ground Hulle Granz Cathedral's hidden area. There, he stood in front of Corbenik's statue and took out his Steam Gun. Corbenik was not an ally; that much had been made clear. However, Renatus now had the ability to leave the area at any given time since he was an Epitaph User.

Moreover, he was Corbenik's Epitaph User, and he doubted he would attack the one he had chosen. With that in mind, he struck the statue and used the warp point to get into Corbenik's area.

Not a second after he appeared, Corbenik materialized in front of him. "You've got guts coming back here, boy. Then again, I thought you might anyways." Corbenik said in a half-mocking manner.

"You were watching my conversation with Macha correct? That means you already know why I'm here." Renatus said, just as before showing no signs of being afraid.

"You want to ask how to summon my powers." Corbenik stated the reason.

"Exactly," Renatus replied. "If I want to learn quickly, who better to teach me than the one I'm drawing the power from?"

At this, Corbenik chuckled. "Tell me boy, why is it you want to learn so quickly?"

"You Avatar's may not know where Aura is yourselves, but you still interact with The World on a deeper level than players." Renatus explained. "If I can reach that deeper level of interaction with the system of The World, maybe I can find clues leading me to Aura's location."

"I see…" Corbenik whispered to himself. "However, summoning an Avatar is not a skill so easily taught. Even with Ovan, it was something he had to figure out himself."

"Well then tell me how Ovan figured it out." Renatus ordered. "Maybe I can get some hints.

"You are quite similar to Ovan boy," Corbenik noted. "However, in regard to that, there is one thing Ovan had that you do not."

"And what is that?"

"Someone he cared for more than anything else in the world." Corbenik answered, a look of intrigue crossing Renatus's face. "Ovan had his younger sister who once became a Lost One. To save her, he risked his own life and manipulated countless people for his own purpose. However, as I have seen, there is no one like that for you in this world."

"So what are you saying, without someone like that I won't be able to use your power?" Renatus asked.

"No, I'm sure someone like you would be able to figure it out eventually. I'm simply trying to suggest a faster route for you to take." Corbenik said as if he were trying to insinuate he already knew what Renatus would do next.

Renatus gave what Corbenik was saying some thought. (It isn't like there isn't anyone like that for me in The World, but…) Finally, Renatus asked Corbenik a question. "What am I supposed to do?" He said with a tone of seriousness that was not like him.

In response to Renatus's response, Corbenik lightly chuckled again before giving his answer. "Listen carefully, boy; I will only tell you this once…"

Once Corbenik had told Renatus what must be done to quickly gain control of his Epitaph, Renatus returned to Mac Anu and used the Chaos Gate to warp to Imus Regnum. From there, he sent out a short mail to a certain player.

After a moment, the player he called warped in beside him. The character that warped in was a female human race Tribal Grappler named Emerald. Her character had long brown hair that fell back naturally and dazzling green eyes. The character design used almost entirely a deep shade of green with black lining. Her V-neck shirt had very short sleeves and hugged her body frame until close to the waist where it split to show her navel and the sides extended down to her knees where they ended in a point. She also had a loose silver belt around her waist and green skinny jean pants with pads on the side of her thighs and knees along with metal plated shoes.

Upon seeing Renatus's face, Emerald spoke to him in a voice that showed her reluctance in coming at all. "What is it Ren?" She asked, using an abbreviated form of his character name. "I was in the middle of something with my guild, so this better be important." She told him, and then without responding, Renatus took a step closer to her and sent her an invitation to his party. "Huh, what's this about? I thought you were a strictly solo player."

For a moment Renatus still didn't respond, but finally answered. "It's important." He told her.

Immediately Emerald could tell something was up with Renatus. Normally when he was asked a question his answer ended up being much longer than it needed to be, but this time he was being vague. This action caused the character named Emerald to be caught a bit off guard.

Whatever it was Renatus wanted to do or talk about, it must have been serious if it caused him to behave differently than he normally would. "Fine, I'll go along." Emerald said after giving an exasperated sigh, and then accepted the invite to his party.

"Good," Renatus stated. "Let's go then." He said and turned to the Chaos Gate, picking out the Keywords **Λ Killing Knife's Sibling** and warped the two of them out of the Town.


	7. Rebirth

_Chapter 7: Rebirth  
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Once logged in again, Haseo used the Chaos Gate to get to Imus Regnum, where Kuhn was waiting. "So, you looked at the Forum right?" He confirmed.

"Yeah, it sounds just like when I got the **SEED -A-**." Haseo replied.

"Right now Yata is seeing what he can learn about the Lost Ground from CC Corp, but knowing them I'm not expecting much to come of it. So for this it'll be you, me, and Pi."

"Alright, let's get a move on." Haseo said and then invited Kuhn and Pi into his party, and then selected the area words **Λ Treacherous Grieving Black Pine **and warped.

The three of them ended up in a desert field. According to the Forum, the monster that wouldn't die was a Crustacean called Seawarders, there were likely to be quite a few of them throughout the field, so Haseo and his party would have no choice but to go through them all until they found the one that wouldn't die.

Haseo, Pi, and Kuhn began running through the field and skipped over any monster parties that didn't have the Seawarders. The area level was 155, the same level as Haseo was now thanks to all the fighting he had done during the quest. After defeat two parties of Seawarders, Haseo filled his moral gauge, so he was ready to use the Avatar Awakening once they found the immortal monster.

At the altar closest to the Beast Statue was another party of two Seawarders, but they both still fell like normal monsters, meaning there must have been another party next to the Beast Tempe itself. Sure enough, around the back of the temple, there was the last party of Seawarders in the field. "This has to be it, let's finish this up." Haseo told Kuhn and Pi, and then engaged the monsters in battle.

The three of them quickly wore down the two Crustaceans using a few series of Arts and by the time one died, the second was already below 300 HP. With no other enemy, all three of them attacked the Seawarder until its HP hit 0. However, just as K.O. had said, the monster did not die. With this fact confirmed, Haseo immediately activated the Avatar Awakening and used his Data Drain on the monster that should have already be dead, and once he had, he received two virus cores from the monster along with the mysterious Key Item that for some reason coincided with the New Temple of Tenebris Sigilli with the name **SEED -B-**.

With the item now in his possession, the immortal monster finally doubled over and was defeated. "Well, that's that." Kuhn said with satisfaction.

"So you got the strange item again, correct?" Pi inquired just to make sure.

"Yeah, **SEED -B-**." Haseo told them. "But now that we have it, should we take it to the Lost Ground?"

"Not yet," Pi answered. "We should allow Master Yata to finish his inquiry with CC Corp. until we do anything more. Even if they refuse to tell us anything, we need to at least try."

"I'm also worried about the warning given at the Lost Ground. 'Inside is something that should never be released.' CC Corp must have been really afraid of whatever is inside." Kuhn suggested.

"But they made whatever it is right? What could they have put in The World that was so dangerous they had to put it under such a complicated lock and key?" Haseo wondered.

"Who knows," Pi replied. "It could be they never expected anyone to find the key in the first place, given that Data Drain is necessary to obtain it."

Haseo thought about the Lost Ground and recalled that when he arrived the first SEED had activated one of the four pillars surrounding the metal box. Since there were four pillars, that probably meant there were also four SEED's to coincide with them, meaning there were still two SEED's hidden within immortal monsters somewhere in The World.

If he kept an eye on the forums the other cases would probably be turned up by regular players sooner or later. When that happened he could form a party and go to the area and get the last two. Even if he never ended up using them at the Lost Ground, it wasn't exactly the best plan to leave irregular monsters lying around in the game.

"Well, we're done here so let's head back to town." Haseo said, and then took the platform in front of the Beast Temple to warp back to town.

**Area Words: Λ Killing Knife's Sibling**

After going through 3 floors of the cave dungeon and finally arriving at the Beast Statue, Emerald had had enough. "Alright Ren, I think it's about time you told me what this is all about. Why the hell did you bring me here?" She asked with a very annoyed tone. "This entire trip you haven't said a single word; and that's extremely abnormal for you. With emphasis on the '_extremely_'." She told him and glared, waiting for an answer.

Renatus remained standing there in front of the treasure chest without responding to Emerald's comments. Instead, Renatus slowly turned around to face Emerald and then reached behind his back and took out his Steam Gun weapon.

Emerald's glare only intensified as she watched this happen. "Just what are you planning to do with that?" She asked him.

Renatus replied by raising his weapon where it was under his chin, and then muttered three words. "Sorry about this." And with that Renatus aimed his Steam Gun at the character known as Emerald and shot a steam bullet at her.

Seeing this, Emerald's eyes opened wide and she reached behind her back and pulled out her brass knuckle weapons, smashing down the block button to lessen her damage, and then glared back at Renatus, with a fury buried inside that was just screaming to be let loose on him. "So, this is your new game, huh? Finally get bored and decided to give PKing a shoot?" She asked him, but he had returned to silence and just stared down his Steam Gun at her, as if waiting for her to make the next move. Emerald clicked her tongue at his and practically yelled at Renatus. "Well fine then. I'm a ranking Arena fighter part of the guild of Gem; just try to take me out!"

And with those words, Emerald charged at Renatus and accepted his challenge to fight.

Haseo warped back into Imus Regnum and disbanded his party, allowing Kuhn and Pi to go off and do their own things, and then logged out himself. Once back at the ALTIMIT homepage Ryou realized it was almost dinner time and stepped away from the computer. After a couple hours and eating, Ryou came back to the computer and went over to check the Rumor board just to make sure.

He opened the Hidden Event? thread and found three new posts. He opened up to the first new one and began reading. First was Renji with his post titled 'Nothing Happened'.

I went to the area and fought all the monsters, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. All the monsters were normal, as they should be; are you sure about what happened?

Obviously Renji had gone to the area after Haseo Data Drained the monster, because of that, the monster was reset to normal parameters, and died correctly. The next post was a reply from Mitan.

I tried going too, but none of the monsters were immortal. Maybe it was just a momentary glitch in the game? Or CC Corp noticed and fixed it?

Last was a reply from K.O.

What, no I'm sure… man, was it really just a glitch? That doesn't seem right.

Evidentially, K.O. was going to be having doubts for a while, but as there was nothing he could do about the matter, so he was sure to give it up eventually.

Haseo looked at a few more things across the forums, but there was nothing important, so Ryou went and looked at his mail station, which had new mail from Kuhn, Yata, and Gaspard.

Starting with Kuhn's, Ryou went through the messages.

Sender: Kuhn

Subject: SEED's

_So far these SEED items are our only hint to the meaning behind the Lost Ground, but that's really not a lot to go on. Like I said before I don't think CC Corp is going to just tell us what we want to know, so we're probably going to have to think outside the box a little._

_In the meantime, keep a lookout for anything on the Forum's that could be another SEED, since it's better to not just leave the monsters holding them wandering around._

Sender: Yata

Subject: To all G.U. members

_Meet up at Raven's Home._

Once again Yata stated what he wanted in the simplest terms. The final mail from Gaspard was a reply to his message trying to convince him there was nothing to worry about with the Chimgob glitch during their quest.

Sender: Gaspard

Subject: RE: Awakening?

_Well it only died after we use Awakening on it. Maybe it was some kind of requirement for the quest?_

_Maybe… I don't know, it just seemed weird you know._

If Ryou didn't know something was actually wrong, he would have brushed Gaspard's worries off as being paranoid. He was sure Gaspard would get over this soon, just letting well enough be well enough.

Ryou closed out the mail station and logged back into The World since Yata had called them up. Once logged in, Haseo warped to Mac Anu and got to Raven's Home. Once inside, Haseo found all the other Epitaph Users gathered except for Renatus. He checked his member addresses and saw that Renatus was marked 'busy', meaning he was caught up in something else and couldn't come right away. Depending on how long he had been busy, Renatus may not have even seen Yata's E-Mail yet.

"Since it appears Renatus is unable to come right now, we will continue without him." Yata stated, and then got down to business. "Despite questioning CC Corp. intently as to the purpose of the Lost Ground **New Temple of Tenebris Sigilli**, they remained adamant and refused to provide me with the information, assuring me there is nothing to be concerned about in its regard."

"Nothing to be concerned about? A player lost consciousness in that place!" Kuhn raged.

"Yes, I attempted to use that to give them a reason to tell me, but they still denied that anything was wrong." Yata replied to Kuhn's understandable anger. "However, if they are going to such lengths to convince us that nothing is wrong, the secret that is hidden with the Lost Ground must be something they have deemed that important to protect. However, we cannot simply overlook this matter either; eventually, the regular players will find the Lost Ground through regular means, and there is still the possibility they will become comatose as Renatus did."

"So… what should we do?" Atoli asked.

They were hesitant to go back to the Lost Ground because they didn't know what had caused Renatus to fall unconscious, and wanted to know what they were up against. Of course, if CC Corp refused to tell them what it was themselves, they were going to have to figure it out for themselves.

Thinking all this, Haseo raised his head and spoke. "The **SEED**'s respond to whatever is in the Lost Ground. If we're going to find out what CC Corp. is hiding in there, the only way to do it is to gather the **SEED**'s and use them."

Despite saying that, Haseo knew it was not that simple. They definitely needed to know what they were up against, but if they let it out before they knew, the results could be more disastrous than they were helpful.

Surly Yata understood that as well, but that did not change the fact that CC Corp. had denied them the information. It really seemed to leave them no other option. "We will gather the **SEED**'s, but we shouldn't use them carelessly. I will attempt to figure something out, even if I do not receive CC Corp.'s help." Yata answered. "Until I give the O.K. refrain from going to the Lost Ground. That is all, you are dismissed."

With that, the members of G.U. began to leave the Home. Back in Mac Anu, Haseo made a tired sigh and realized just how much time he had spent online today. Despite having only just logged back in, Haseo choose to log off again for the day to rest himself instead of continuing.

**Area Words: Λ Killing Knife's Sibling**

The battle between Renatus and the character known as Emerald was near its end. Despite sounding so sure of her strength when she charged in, Emerald was now kneeling on the ground in defeat. Her HP was less than 100 points, small enough for Renatus to take out in a single shot more.

The fight had been long due to the number of healing items they both had on them, but Emerald had finally run out of them completely. She had also run out of SP for the moment, so she couldn't even use the healing spells she had learned for the arena anymore. Left in such as state, Emerald was just a sitting duck waiting to be shot.

She took one more look up at Renatus, whose expression throughout the entire fight had remained stale, without feeling. "You know, I never liked the way you played this game, but I never thought you'd stoop this low Renatus." She told him with condescension. Renatus gave no reply, but moved his Steam Gun over to point it straight at Emerald's head. "Well, what are you waiting for? You've already gone this far, might as well finish the job right?" She asked rhetorically, but Renatus seemed to be hesitating to finish the character off. "Do it already!" She commanded.

And yet even as Emerald said this, Renatus did not attack. He gritted his teeth, not Renatus, but his player behind him. He was conflicted about shooting the person in front of him, even though she wouldn't actually die if he were to shot. The reason was simple: it was what Corbenik had told him.

_ "Listen carefully, boy; I will only tell you this once." Corbenik warned Renatus before getting into the details of what he must do to gain control of his power as an Epitaph User. "That person you care for more than anyone else; if you wish to quickly grasp my powers, what you must do is quite simple in nature." Corbenik paused, as if waiting for Renatus to ask what it was before he continued. When Renatus remained silent, Corbenik continued. "You must kill them."_

_ Surprisingly, the reaction Renatus gave was not one of utter shock, but rather one of mild confusion mixed with some anger. "What?"Renatus asked the single word._

_ Corbenik ignored Renatus's question and did not repeat himself, instead continuing what he was saying like a recording that could not be rewound to hear a part over again. "If you do this, you will surely obtain my powers which you seek. Take the life that you value more than your own and turn your blade against it. Do this, I guarantee you will gain the power."_

Corbenik had made such a bold claim, but the assurance did not give Renatus any relief about the deed. Of course he had been talking about PK when he used the word 'kill'; after all, for him this world was real, people may have come back after their HP hit zero, but to him the people in this world 'died' they were not 'PK'ed'.

Renatus stared down the barrel of his Steam Gun at Emerald's face and his hand shook. He didn't want to kill her, but if he wanted to find Aura, he had to.

(I… can't!) Renatus thought to himself as he attempted to force himself to pull the trigger. However, the scene before him suddenly seemed to become irrelevant.

In the exact instant Renatus had that thought, a change occurred in his character. Blue light patterns glowed all over his body. He felt something he could not describe grow inside of him. And though he could not describe it, he knew what it was; it was the power of the Avatar.

The power enveloped Renatus's senses as the power began to be unleashed. Even if Renatus had wanted to, he would not be able to hold it back. The power came to him and Renatus shouted a single word. "Corbenik…!"


End file.
